Sonification is the use of non-speech audio to convey information or perceptualize data. Due to the specifics of auditory perception, such as temporal and pressure resolution, sonification offers an interesting alternative or complement to visualization techniques, gaining importance in various disciplines. Sonification has been well established for a long time already as Auditory Display in situations that require a constant awareness of some information (e.g. vital body functions during an operation).
Many analytic tool outcomes produce data that lend themselves well to helpful visualizations (in geographic, spatial formats, and abstract formats). In highly cluttered visual displays, advanced data sonification can be used to convey yet additional data without further encumbering the visual field.
However, sonification systems have long remained far too primitive or inappropriate for general data sets, visualization environments, GIS applications, etc. Accordingly, despite much interest and ongoing intuitive promise, data sonification has remained a novelty area and the use of sonification as a method for exploration of data and scientific modeling is an ongoing topic of low-level research.
Nonetheless, work has demonstrated that sonification can be an extremely powerful tool is if data is expressed in terms of parameterized timbre variations coupled with systematic sonic design. With proper sonic design (not unlike proper visual design) rich powerful multichannel data representations are possible wherein several channels of data values can be simultaneously conveyed effectively.
So empowered, data sonification takes on the same types of support needs and multi-parameter handling that would be afforded sophisticated data visualization systems. As a result, data sonification can take a peer role with data visualization and accordingly the two can share many if not all of the same data preprocessing operations and environments.
Thus the present invention is directed to parameterized timbre variations, audio signal and sonic design, broader sonification environments, interactions with visualization environments, and other related aspects important to making data sonification the viable and powerful tool it could be.